Podcasting finds its way into the supply chain

ID technology company Zetes is creating a series of podcasts explaining major supply chain issues.

The first podcast, available at www.zetes.ie is a 15-minute discussion between two of the company’s technology experts on the main benefits and challenges of using voice-recognition technology.

Zetes, which has over 600 employees, including 27 in Ireland, believes podcasting is an ideal way to share its industry experts, technical knowledge and customer insights with a wider audience, a spokesperson told siliconrepublic.com.

“All the podcasts are educational in focus and designed to help the industry understand the various feature benefits of different approaches to optimising the supply chain,” said Lesley Muir, spokesperson for Zetes. “That might be using RFID, barcode scanning, voice recognition, for instance.

“We have just produced the first one on using voice-recognition systems in the warehouse. It covers the basics, such as how the technology actually works, what benefits can be expected and also, what types of environments are best suited to voice. As with RFID, voice isn’t suited to every warehouse environment and it’s important to raise this.”

The company believes podcasting offers great potential for IT providers.

“The old saying that the medium is the message is absolutely true and this represents a great image-building opportunity for technology companies. Using podcasting as a communications vehicle tells the marketplace you practice what you preach in terms of being cutting-edge and that’s an important message to get across. It means you are forward-thinking and willing to share your expertise, which is important to potential customers.”

The essential element for success with a podcasting campaign is not to be too sales-oriented and to offer real information and genuine value, Muir said. “It is important to approach this as providing objective information rather than a promotional advertisement.”